Whooping Cough Outbreak at Pittsburgh Vets Clinic

Medical officials in Pittsburgh say staff members and some patients at a Veterans Affairs hospital are getting preventive treatment for whooping cough after an outbreak was traced to several workers at an outpatient clinic.

Officials said tests confirmed 11 cases of the respiratory bacterial infection among employees at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System facility.

The chief of the VA's infectious disease division, Dr. Robert Muder, says no patients have been found to be ill with the disease but some have been offered antibiotics.

He says the hospital's employees, doctors, interns and medical students are taking a five-day course of antibiotics.

Whooping cough causes severe coughing spells but is not considered a threatening illness in adults.

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